Showing all posts tagged family

In Mindfulness, Self-Care, Women's Interest

Maintaining Positive Relationships

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

positive relationships

Roy and I have been married for 15 years and together a few more than that. I’m very lucky in that I didn’t just marry the man I love, I married my best friend. We have people ask us (we’re both very soppy when it comes to each other) how we’ve kept our marriage going so well so here are some things for anyone to consider. We’re not marriage guidance counsellors but these are good all-rounders for working on positive relationships, be this a partnership, marriage or friendship.

Spend Some Quality Time Together

Make sure you spend regular, quality time together. Get away from social media, the TV, and technology, and focus on one another for a while. You could go on weekends away, one date night per week or fortnight, or even plan regular vacations. Just bear in mind that one break every so often is unlikely to be enough to bring you and your partner closer together if you’re not spending enough time together during the week. We have busy weeks, children and all sorts going on but still make time to have date nights, even if they are in the house! It’s all about making time in your busy life to build and enjoy positive relationships.

Reconnect With Yourself

Work on finding your own passions and hobbies, spending time with family and friends, and enjoying yourself. When you’re in a better place personally and mentally, you stand to make your relationship far better with your partner, with family and with friends. Self care is important! When you and your partner aren’t happy in yourselves, it’s going to be virtually impossible to be happy with one another.

Be Creative In Showing Your Love

Find new and exciting ways to show your love to one another. Be creative, whether it’s writing one another love letters, making fancy dinners, or dressing up just to spend time with them. Show them that you still care in different ways and it’ll bring some novelty into your relationship – something all relationships need to stay fresh. For example, we don’t do Valentine’s Day, it just isn’t our thing but we surprise each other with daft and funny things at random times. These make us laugh and create shared positive memories.

Deal With Intimacy Issues

Thankfully this isn’t something we’ve ever had a problem with, but in the spirit of producing a well-rounded blog post with tips for all, it’s worth including. Intimacy is another important key to any relationship and feeling close to your partner. Work on ways you can be more intimate with one another, whether that’s saying how you really feel, or working on ways you can become more intimate in the bedroom. If you’re having problems in that regard, you could look at some treatment options for impotence, or something more suited to your problem. 

Bond Over Common Hobbies And Interests

Couples find that they bond more effectively over common hobbies and interests. If you both love art, go to galleries together. If you love thrifting, head to markets. If you love food, just try out new places to eat! There are probably all kinds of things you can do to bring you together and feel closer than ever before. For Roy and I, it is Dungeons and Dragons, shared geekery and more. It’s the same with our friendships, we all have things in common such as hobbies and interests.

Practice Communicating for Positive Relationships

Poor communication is one of the most common reasons that a relationship breaks down. I have seen real-world examples of this time and time again. Be it a married or a friendship, it’s important to be able to communicate openly and honestly.

Live In The Moment

Rather than living in the past or worrying about the future, try to live in the moment. Have more fun together spontaneously, and really make the most of your time together. There’s nothing worse than spending time with somebody who’s mind just isn’t there! After completing a mindfulness diploma last year I’ve found living in the moment fun and getting the most out of my time with people I have positive relationships with also easier!

 

Positive relationships make for a happier life, they really do. Surrounding yourself with people who understand you, who you understand, who are on the same wavelength and have shared interests is what makes for fun times, great memories and support for each other when needed. Make sure that you take time to nurture the important relationships in your life.

In Family Time

Activities You Must Try Before the Kids Grow Up

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

Time flies by so fast, particularly when you’re a parent.  One minute your child is fully dependant on you and the next they are moving out. While we may have the freedom to try new things as an adult, there’s nothing quite like the excitement of trying new family activities as a child.

If you are looking for ideas for the summer holiday or just pre-planning for your future children, make sure you try these activities with your little ones.

In the Great Outdoors

Getting outdoors is fantastic, the world is full of glorious sights and sounds to discover and fun to be had. Take the kids camping – caravan holidays are great fun and going full-nature in a tent is the ultimate experience. Roast marshmallows over an open campfire, stargaze long into the night – August is an amazing time for camping in the UK if you go somewhere with little to no light pollution. The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks over August 9-13 and is sure to delight (adults and children alike!). For those really warm nights, get them to drag their sleeping bags outside and sleep in the open air.

Warm days offer a fantastic opportunity to hit the beach, go paddling in the surf, build a sandcastle, fly a kite. Get them involved with nature and try your hand at fishing or crabbing – great for teaching your kids about wild animals. Not on the coast? There’s more fun to be had at the park – set a family record on the swings, climb a tree, roll down a big grassy hill, collect caterpillars together to hatch into butterflies – you could even organise a big water fight!

activities

Cold weather on the way? That doesn’t have to stop you, every kid (big and small) should dance in the rain at least once. Once the snow starts falling, get outside and build the best snowman you can, or maybe a snow fort – you never know when the first snowballs will start to fly.

In the Comfort of Home

So, your kids aren’t the outdoors type, but that’s okay – there’s still plenty to be done inside. Get messy with arts and crafts (maybe pop a protective table-cloth down first) from collages made of feathers and sequins to dying t-shirts and even painting eggs. There’s plenty of get-stuck-in activities for you and your child to do together and make some long-lasting memories. Get your little ones involved in the kitchen, make a cake together or some home-made ice cream, this is an ample opportunity to teach them about health and wellbeing too!

If you’ve got the time, why not learn an instrument together – or get your child into lessons to learn themselves. Encourage them to put on little performances and make sure to cheer them on.

Looking for ideas for something a bit quirky? Why not have a fancy-dress day, where you both get dressed up and spend the day having fun. Make a cardboard/blanket fort, watch some favourite movies and stay up talking by torch-light.

A Great Day Out

Getting out with the kids, particularly when they are little, can be a bit tough but can be great fun when they’ve got a bit more independence. Plan a day to the Zoo to see their favourite wild animal or head out to an age-appropriate theme park. Get the kids involved in organising – what they will need to pack for a day trip and what they’d like to do before it’s time to head home. Every day is another learning opportunity, even if it’s hidden in something fun!

Activities

Why not get your kids involved in planning some activities over the Summer holiday? You could show them how to plan ahead and even use the opportunity for budgeting lessons – good money management starts at a young age! Get them to compare the cost of activities – from choosing to go visit a caravan site to travelling to a long-distance destination.

Carve some time out and make a list of what you and your kids hope to achieve this year, for every activity you complete, you can tick off the list together. We all know life can be busy, but time waits for no-one, so make sure you make the most of your time with your children before they grow up.

All original content on these pages is fingerprinted and certified by Digiprove